With a continuously growing population, it is becoming increasingly difficult to meet the world's energy needs and, simultaneously, to control carbon emissions to kerb greenhouse gas emissions which are considered responsible for global warming phenomena. These concerns have triggered a drive towards a more efficient use of electricity in an attempt to reduce energy consumption.
One such area of concern is lighting applications, either in domestic or commercial settings. There is a clear trend towards the replacement of traditional, relatively energy-inefficient, light bulbs such as incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs with more energy efficient replacements. Indeed, in many jurisdictions the production and retailing of incandescent light bulbs has been outlawed, thus forcing consumers to buy energy-efficient alternatives, e.g. when replacing incandescent light bulbs.
A particularly promising alternative is provided by solid state lighting (SSL) devices, which can produce a unit luminous output at a fraction of the energy cost of incandescent or fluorescent light bulbs. An example of such a SSL element is a light emitting diode (LED).
It is known to provide SSL lighting devices having a similar overall shape to fluorescent light tubes, i.e. tubular solid state lighting devices. These tubular SSL devices may be used to replace fluorescent light tubes or used in similar applications to fluorescent light tubes.
An example of a prior art tubular SSL element-based lighting device comprises a tubular body, within the tubular body is a printed circuit board onto which a plurality of LED elements are mounted at regular intervals.
In one known construction, the printed circuit board is taped to the tubular body using a double sided tape. However, the fixing of components in place using tapes can be awkward. Specifically, as such tape is necessarily sticky it can be difficult to position within the tubular body, particularly if the tube is of some length. For example, if the tape is first fixed to the tubular body, the tape may become stuck prematurely in a non-desired position or, if the tape is first fixed to the printed circuit board, the printed circuit board may become stuck in a non-desired location. Additionally, the use of tapes can be difficult to automate.